Box Score NASHVILLE – Lipscomb Men's Soccer advanced to the ASUN Championship Semifinal after a 2-0 defeat of #3 Liberty Saturday night at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex.
Set piece goals by
Hayes Wood in the 57' minute and
Honore Kalala in the 84' minute were the difference Saturday night. Between the pipes,
Michael Sibley secured the shutout after making five saves.
With a berth to the Final Four on the line, the side's got out to a furious pace from the first whistle. The Bisons had one of the first good chances on goal in the 32' minute when
Javanne Smith put a header on goal that was saved by the Liberty keeper.
After a scoreless first half, the Bisons found the go-ahead goal in the 57' minute off a set piece.
Scott Gulden notched his first assist of the night when he put a beautiful ball to the back post.
Hayes Wood skied for the header and beat the keeper for the 1-0 lead.
Liberty continued to search for the equalizer, but the Bisons' defense was up to the task, withstanding seven shots by the Flames.
The Bisons continued to keep its foot on the gas with several great looks in its final third and broke through again in the 84' minute.
After earning a corner,
Noah Gulden took the kick and placed it at the far post.
Scott Gulden then headed it to the waiting Kalala who volleyed the ball in for the insurance goal.
HERD NOTES
- Lipscomb outshot the Flames 14-9 and landed six of those on frame.
- The Bisons earned nine corners.
- Alejandro Lopez lead the way with four shots with two on frame.
- Sibley earned his sixth win of the season.
THOUGHTS FROM THE BENCH
DEFENDER SCOTT GULDEN ON THE WIN:
"It was definitely an important win. We know how good we are, and we just needed that win to prove to ourselves what we can do. To get a shutout, 2-0, and playing a good game means a lot for us going to Florida with that feeling of winning. We had had some difficult times in the last weeks, we didn't get the goals, so what we were able to do today was really great."
HEAD COACH CHARLES MORROW ON THE RESULT:
"I thought our preparation this week was really, really good and Liberty changed some things, the way they were playing, and our guys did a great job adjusting in the first half, dealing with the sun in their eyes for the first half and got through it. We created a couple really good chances in the first half but being able to put two away in the second half was awesome."
HEAD COACH CHARLES MORROW ON MOVING TO THE ASUN SEMIFINAL MATCH:
"We've earned the right to play against the other side of the division and Kelly at Liberty and Tim at Bellarmine have done a fantastic job, but you always wonder how you compare to the other side of the bracket. So, I'm really excited to get to play those teams in a year where we've seen multiple teams, multiple times. I'm excited to get down to Florida and compete. It's a little bit of a short week, but the good news is when we're our best, we're focused on us. We'll take this week and make sure that we are the best that we can be, focus on ourselves and are the best versions of ourselves when we get down to Florida."
UP NEXT
#2 Lipscomb will play the South Division's, #1 Jacksonville in the semifinal match Thursday, April 15 at 7:05 p.m. ET in Jacksonville, Fla.
